The electorate’s changing of the old guard of government on January 15th came with new hopes and aspirations for Barbados, most notably with respect to our social development.

Previous mention was made of the fact that the former government was not axed based on Barbados’ economic performance. We have long boasted of our economic success and resilience relative to the world’s developing countries, and could find little fault in our macroeconomic indicators. In contrast, families and households saw increasing individual poverty, high costs of living, underemployment and prohibitive housing costs which ultimately negated our macroeconomic boasts, and called for closer attention to be paid to our social policies.

While the new administration came with an overarching theme of change, there needs now to be specific dialogue on the social policy plans of the new government for its first term of office. Whereas much has been done by way of the bureaucratic formation of new ministries to replace the former Ministry of Social Transformation, little clarification has been given to the precise objectives and scope of the new ‘buzzword’ agencies of Community Development, Social Care, Constituency Empowerment and Family. Neither has there been mention of a revamp of the long-bedeviled bureaucratic procedures involved in the dispensation of social care under the agencies of the last administration.

Given the dynamics of policy planning, a comprehensive review of the policies which existed under the old fourteen-year administration needs to be urgently completed if the new government is to seriously effect improvements in the standard of living for the majority of Barbadians. As social change is without a doubt intrinsic to development, a continuation of the flaws of the previous administration’s social policies would inevitably render January 15th’s vote for change, pointless.